27 April 2014

Why You do NOT want a Microsoft Phone OR Amazon Phone

Will Microsoft do to Nokia smartphones what Windows 8 did to the PC market? LOL! Due to a huge lead in advanced development, features, and apps, an Android smartphone or iPhone will be the way to go for the foreseeable future unless: 1) you are trapped in the Microsoft ecosystem; or 2) you are an Amazon Prime shopping addict --Microsoft morphs into a hardware giant with closure of Nokia deal | The Verge: "Microsoft is no longer just a software giant, it’s now a hardware giant. Nearly eight months after its original announcement, Microsoft has completed its deal to purchase Nokia's devices and services unit today. Microsoft will pay...(around $7.2 billion), a lot less than the $8.5 billion Microsoft paid for Skype back in 2011....The deal sees Microsoft take control of more than 90 percent of all Windows Phones with Nokia's Lumia lineup, and the company will also acquire the low-end Asha brand, Android-based Nokia X handsets, and feature phones. The Redmond-based software maker will now morph into a hardware maker responsible for shipping more than 200 million handsets a year with an additional 25,000 employees moving across from Nokia, less than the 32,000 originally planned. Microsoft is planning to use the "Microsoft Mobile" moniker for the Nokia phone business...."Amazon Prime Data: Amazon smartphone could be AT&T exclusive, new data | BGR: "....The plan is tentatively named “Prime Data,” and it will be positioned as one of several key selling points for the phone. Amazon is holding details of the data package very close to the chest and as a result, our sources were not able to confirm exactly what the company has in store for Prime Data. Several sources were willing to speculate based on limited knowledge of Amazon’s plans, however. More than one trusted source we spoke with told BGR that Amazon’s smartphone could be made available exclusively on AT&T’s network in the United States..."The FCC’s new net neutrality rules will kill Aereo, even if the Supreme Court doesn’t: "...Aereo stores its customers' TV shows in an online, cloud-based locker. Then it sends those shows, on-demand, over the Internet to its subscribers' waiting PCs, tablets and mobile phones. Incidentally, that makes Aereo subject to the Federal Communications Commission's new rules on net neutrality. If Aereo loses its Supreme Court bid, the show's over and the question becomes irrelevant. But if Aereo survives, then it would be living in a world filled with Internet fast lanes and paid prioritization...."Exclusive: Google may offer Wi-Fi for cities with its Google Fiber: "Google is considering deploying Wi-Fi networks in towns and cities covered by its Google Fiber high-speed Internet service. The disclosure is made in a document Google is circulating to 34 cities that are the next candidates to receive Google Fiber in 2015. Specific details of the Wi-Fi plan are not included in the document, which was seen by IDG News Service, but Google says it will be "discussing our Wi-Fi plans and related requirements with your city as we move forward with your city during this planning process."..."Apple, Google Can Pursue Smartphone Patent Cases, Court Says (1) - Businessweek: "Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s Motorola Mobility can pursue claims the other infringed smartphone technology patents after a U.S. appeals court in Washington ruled a judge wrongly threw out the case. A federal judge in Chicago dismissed the claims because he didn’t like their damages experts and didn’t believe they could block each other’s products, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in an opinion posted on the court’s website."Microsoft, AOL Strike Web Video Distribution Deal | Re/code: "....For now, Microsoft plans on running the clips on its MSN portal, as well as its Bing apps that run on Windows and Windows Phone. Microsoft will sell most of the ads for the videos, and the two companies will share ad revenue. AOL, which has made a big push into video for the last few years, has done other distribution deals, including one on YouTube...."Pinterest Hits 30 Billion Total Pins, Up 50% In 6 Months | TechCrunch: "That growth has stemmed, in part, from the introduction of Related Pins, something the company released about a year ago. Nowadays more than 90 percent of Pins have Related Pins connected to them, and the number of people who repin Related Pins has grown by 20 percent. Silbermann compared Pinterest to curation that already exists elsewhere in the world. Specifically, how collections on Pinterest are like curated art in museums, articles and photos in magazines, and collections of clothing at a retail location."Google Hangouts May Be Ready To Eat Videoconferencing – ReadWrite: "Immersive telepresence sales have been plummeting over the years, dropping nearly 40% just a year ago. Even video conferencing has been 10% lower than vendors like Cisco had been projecting, as ZDNet's Larry Dignan reported last year. It's about to get worse. Google sent shockwaves through the video conferencing world by announcing a $1,000 Chromebox for Meetings, which gives enterprises a cheap-and-good enough solution for video conferencing. But the far cheaper and also "good enough" solution costs exactly $0 and is also provided by Google. It's called Google Hangout, and it comes free with every Internet connection. Most people—indeed, most companies—don't need high-end video conferencing. Not most of the time, anyway. Often enough, we simply need person-to-person video conferencing, for which Microsoft's Skype or Google Hangouts is far more convenient. "